


Return

by ryttu3k



Series: Simstagram Side Stories [3]
Category: The Sims (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, Reunions, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:53:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 487
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23088871
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryttu3k/pseuds/ryttu3k
Summary: Meanwhile, in Forgotten Hollow...
Series: Simstagram Side Stories [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1643032
Kudos: 7





	Return

**Author's Note:**

> Written as an expansion of my [Simstagram account](https://www.instagram.com/calebvvatore/) for Caleb.

**Forgotten Hollow  
11th March, 2:36 AM**

The manor stuck out like a sore thumb.

The last time he had seen Wolfsbane Manor, it had been staid, dignified. Mid-grey brickwork, white trim, black roof. Enough contrast to show off its fine Italianate details, subdued enough to fit the local vernacular.

The white trim was still there. So was the black roof. But the brickwork, _the brickwork_...

He shook his head. Just across the central square was another house, this one adorned in colour too; deep crimson red and faded green, it spoke more to the surroundings than the garish, warm, _bright_ paintwork his former home did. Straightening the lapels of his coat, he turned on his heel and strode across the crumpled grass, raising a fist to the door and knocking sharply.

  


Once, twice, thrice.

The door swung open; he snapped to attention, smiled at the one standing there. She hadn't aged a day, of course; but then, neither has he.

  


"Raylan Lange," she said, and laughed. "Well, look what the cat dragged in."

" _My Lady_ Hell." The exaggerated title got an exaggerated bow, too; he was grinning. "It's been some time. Is that a wrinkle I spy?"

She laughed again, pulled him into a hug, and stamped hard on his foot with the heel of her boot. Raylan hid a wince. "You old bastard," she snorted, drawing away. (It was not entirely inaccurate, after all. He was nearing the end of his second century, and she was barely pushing fifty.) "It's been, what, twenty years?"

"Eighteen, I think. Or nineteen. Something like that."

"Well," she said, and clapped him on the shoulder, "It's about time you dragged yourself back here! You will not _believe_ the poor scraps we've had here lately. My offspring, Markus - he turned out well, but the other's a complete waste of space, and the other one, Vlad's - she's a disrespectful brat."

He raised an eyebrow. "I've noticed some of the changes already." Voice dry as paper, he flung a hand at the manor, still glowing perkily through the gloom. "What the hell happened to my house?"

She matched his tone. "Exactly what I just said. My waste of space and Vlad's brat. The _Vatore siblings_. A couple of kids who got all squeamish and ran away from the big bad vampies."

  


Raylan shook his head, then paused. Frowned. There was a memory emerging there, in the dimness of his distant memory. "Did you say 'Vatore'?"

Miss Hell peered at him carefully, then reached out and snagged his chin, turning his head this way and that. Raylan bore this treatment patiently, his brow furrowed; he was recalling an encounter.

Isabella. Pretty Isabella in Milan, perhaps a hundred years ago or more, her gaze heated, whispering that her husband must never find out...

Pretty _Isabella Vatore_ , in Milan, a hundred years ago or more.

"I think," Miss Hell said quietly, "You'd better come inside."

**Author's Note:**

> Who is Raylan Lange? He's the version of Caleb seen in the trailers! Caleb in the trailers acts a lot more like a 'traditional' vampire - fully-equipped dark form, happy to use vampiric powers against others if it means getting his way, all too happy to spend time with Vlad, Miss Hell, and other vampires. During a shot to demonstrate the new CAS items, the shot of 'Caleb' showed the name Raylan Lange, a dark form, the traits Outgoing, Romantic, and Self-Assured, and the aspiration Serial Romantic.
> 
> Trailer!Caleb does not act like game!Caleb. And given that they conveniently have a name for the trailer version, I've made him a separate character - an ancestor of the Vatores, to account for his and Caleb's similar appearance.


End file.
